An Unexpected Gift

The last two weeks have been stressful. It is a vicious cycle, get a migraine, get behind, get more stressed, get more migraines. In 14 days, I had six migraines. I was falling further and further behind at home, at work, everywhere.

But Mother Nature intervened with a most welcome and unexpected gift. Snow. We get snow so rarely that everything shuts down when we do get it. I am on my third snow day. Woo-hoo!

Last week I was shopping at a seasonal Christmas store and found this really cute ornament. It is an apple and on the back it says "I love snow days!" It was so perfect that I bought two, one for me and one for my teaching partner. It must have worked because we got our tree on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning it was snowing.

Monday, I played out in the snow with the boys for two hours. All I can say is thank you Columbia Sportswear, you kept me warm. We made cookies, frosted and decorated them. We hung out and enjoyed the day. No stress, no worries, just me and my boys. The boys attempted to make snow men in the afternoon. The snow was too dry and it was too cold, so they improvised.

After such a relaxing day on Monday, Tuesday was another snow day. So I got productive. Yesterday, I worked on laundry and put clean sheets on our bed. I thoroughly cleaned the living and dining rooms rather than my quick spruce up. The dog hair tumbleweeds were preparing to take over and were being fed by little boy crumbs under the table. Our house felt so clean and fresh when you walked in the door. Then I got to work on some projects.

I started these curtains nearly two years ago. I was making them for my girlfriends baby's room. I got the valances made before she arrived. But life has been just a little too hectic to get the actual curtains done. Now, there are blinds up in her room, so she has not been being blinded by the sun every day. I feel bad that it has taken this long, but I can only manage so much. I had taken a pre-made curtain. I had to hem it, add the decorative ribbon and then add blackout fabric. It didn't seem like much, but it took me about four hours per curtain. And eight hours for projects is hard to come by. I had finished one of the them two weeks ago and really wanted to get the other one done. So that was my Tuesday afternoon project. And now they are done! Aren't they cute. I still plan to make a crib skirt, but I don't have the measurements. So when I drop off the curtains, I'll measure. Maybe I will have that done before the new year.

I wasn't done yet. I had the urge to project some more. I have a goal to give up wrapping paper. I want to (slowly, over the years) make cloth bags to put gifts in. Granted they won't be as fun to rip into, but it will create so much less waste and save us money in the long run. And they can be beautiful too. So I decided to make one yesterday. I was watching TV with the boys and this one is hand stitched. I thought it turned out pretty cute. My thumb is a little sore today from pushing the needle through the felt.

Yesterday was very productive and and relaxing. I'm curious to see what today brings. And whether we will end up with a three week winter break. There is another storm arriving today with cold temperatures and more snow.

PS, this is my 300th post! I have never been this successful in anything that could be considered journaling in my entire life. And I have tried many times before.